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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24951700">The Tudors, Season 2, Episode 7, Matters of State</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer'>TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Tudors (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Analysis, Episode Review, Episode: s02e07 Matters of State, Meta, Nonfiction, Season/Series 02, Spoilers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:07:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,784</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24951700</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode and the rest of the series. Complete.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Tudors, Season 2, Episode 7, Matters of State</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Open to Anne having a nightmare of Mary burning her alive.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Cromwell, Cranmer, and Boleyn show Henry a book documenting all the abuses of religious houses.</p>
<p>Back to Anne, there’s a knock on the door, and thinking it’s George, she rushes from her bedroom.</p>
<p>It’s Norris, and he’s there to see Madge. Anne couldn’t care less, but he shows his sincere respect for her religious reforms, and Anne gives a speech I can believe the historical Anne would give. It comes across as something she has an actual devotion to rather than just a way to try to secure her marriage to Henry.</p>
<p>Nearby, Madge looks jealous.</p>
<p>George appears. In her bedroom, Anne expresses her hysteria. She wildly tells George of her plan to order Catherine and Mary’s death whenever Henry goes abroad and makes her regent.</p>
<p>Unless she can guarantee he’ll die abroad, this is a terrible idea.</p>
<p>Fed up, George orders her to be more stoic and dignified with her feelings the way Catherine is. He storms out, and Anne’s physical tics return.</p>
<p>At a monastery, a priest delivers a letter from Henry to one of the others. It’s an order of suppression, and the deliverer wonders what they’ve done wrong and what will become of them.</p>
<p>Back at the castle, Brereton is a food taster. He sets the plates down for Henry and Anne. Anne annoys Henry by trying to continue to push a match between Elizabeth and the dauphin. Then, perhaps sensing Brereton’s feelings towards her, she’s wary of eating. Henry reminds her the food’s been tasted.</p>
<p>In addition, if Brereton had poisoned the food, Henry, another food taster, or Brereton himself would already be dead.</p>
<p>Henry suggests an alliance with the emperor. Anne expresses her unhappiness towards the idea. Henry angrily points out he has to look out for England. Trying to take George’s advice, Anne asks for forgiveness.</p>
<p>Saying she has no reason to be sorry, he acknowledges she’s right to be concerned for their daughter’s future. Just when Anne relaxes, Henry echoes his treatment of Catherine in the first season. Uncomfortably grabbing her hand, he orders her to leave the important matters of the state to him.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Cromwell is having a meal with the Cranmers. Mrs Cranmer asks about their religious reforms. They want to get rid of unnecessary religious holidays, have priests preach the supremacy, have the Lord’s prayer and ten commandments taught in English, and have resources devoted to the poor rather than towards relics. Mrs Cranmer is impressed but doesn’t think they’re doing enough to stamp out Catholicism. She expresses some strongly feminist sentiments when explaining what her grievances with the church are.</p>
<p>Cranmer is a bit embarrassed, but Cromwell has just found a new hero.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, Wyatt comes to visit Elizabeth. Finding her scrubbing the floors, he asks why she doesn’t come back to court, and she expresses her devotion to Catherine and her Catholic faith. Then, she says he can kiss her, but afterward, he has to leave her alone forever.</p>
<p>They kiss, and she ignores him. Eventually, he leaves.</p>
<p>At the monastery, Henry’s librarian informs the head priest all the books will be removed and housed in the royal library.</p>
<p>Outside, Anne plays with Elizabeth as Brereton watches impassively from a window.</p>
<p>In the court, Boleyn and George talk about Anne’s fragile mental state. George shows some sympathy, and Boleyn yells at him. He insists no one can show weakness.</p>
<p>Next, George goes to Anne’s chambers. She’s having a party. Seeing Wyatt, he goes over to express his belief Wyatt is still in love with Anne. Wyatt insists he isn’t. There’s a creepy moment where Anne and Brereton dance together, and her uneasiness comes into full force when he departs. One of the courtiers calls her name, and she goes over to him. He sweeps her up in bridal style.</p>
<p>Suddenly, Henry barges into the chamber. He orders Mark to play, and he and Anne have an intense dance together. There are flashes of them having rough, violent sex intercutting the scene until it turns into them having said sex.</p>
<p>Afterwards, she tries to convince him to kill Catherine and Mary by telling him she can’t convince a son until they’re dead.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, a bedridden Catherine is deathly pale. Washing Catherine’s face, Elizabeth listens in sympathy to her talking about being unable to see Mary. Catherine asks Elizabeth to read the pope’s pronouncement of the validity of her marriage to Henry, and Elizabeth complies. When she’s done, she hands it to Catherine. Kissing the seal, Catherine insists no man can ever deny the eternal truth of the words.</p>
<p>In Rome, the pope’s in a meeting. He affectionately greets a little boy. When the little boy’s gone, he declares he’ll be a fine cardinal one day. The other cardinals clap.</p>
<p>I don’t know if I should know who the boy is or not. Someone suggested he might be a grandchild of the pope and his presence was to imply the pope, as many priests did, didn’t hold to his vows of celibacy.</p>
<p>The pope continues he’s invited Michelangelo to do some more work in the Sistine Chapel. One of them brings up the fact some people objected to his work on the ceiling, and the pope says he did, too, but he’s decided he likes it. However, he’s not going to pay Michelangelo much money for any further work done.</p>
<p>Henry’s brought up, and the pope talks about going swimming as a child and almost drowning. He says Henry will soon realise he’s drowning, too.</p>
<p>At court, Anne goes to see Henry. She’s told he’s gone hunting with Charles Brandon.</p>
<p>In the forest, Henry kills a deer, and Charles Brandon compliments him on his kill. He asks if Henry wants to go back to the palace, and the answer’s no. Henry asks if there’s anywhere they can stay for the night. Charles Brandon happily suggests Sir John’s place, and Henry remembers him from a campaign they had together.</p>
<p>I’ve always believed, in this series, Charles Brandon did some research and decided to bid his time before finally subtly putting Jane Seymour in front of Henry. Here, he knows now is the best time for him to do so.</p>
<p>They leave the dead animals lying on the ground. Originally, I was annoyed by the blatant waste of food, but a commenter pointed out Henry probably had the servants take the meat to the castle.</p>
<p>There’s a brief scene of the priest taking in the destroyed monastery.</p>
<p>At the Seymour house, barging in, Charles Brandon cheerfully calls for John. Appearing, John is naturally a little grumpy at someone barging into his house at the late hour. All happiness, Charles Brandon says he has an unexpected guest. Henry appears, and the three have a group hug.</p>
<p>In her chamber’s, sitting by the fire, Anne listens to Mark play.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Elizabeth prays near a feverish Catherine.</p>
<p>Back at the Seymour house, John apologises for the staff needing some time to prepare food, but Henry’s happy. They talk about the battle they were in together, and there’s a moment I really like where Henry teasingly flings some drops of water at Charles Brandon, and Charles Brandon playfully flinches away. They have a quiet toast to past victories.</p>
<p>In the next scene, Catherine has a hallucination of Mary visiting her. Elizabeth lets her believe it really happened. She asks Catherine to let her summon a doctor, but Catherine says she’s fully commended herself to God. Elizabeth resumes praying.</p>
<p>Back at the castle, Anne expresses her belief a son would bring about a golden world to Mark. She kisses him on the cheek, and it’s shown one of her ladies has observed this.</p>
<p>Over at the Seymour’s, as John and Charles Brandon are reminiscing, Henry notices Jane Seymour creepily peeking around a corner. The other men notice his silence, and Jane fully appears. John introduces her, and Jane quietly sinks to the floor. Wordlessly helping her up, Henry plays with her hair.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Cromwell visits Anne. She’s annoyed with him for trying to shut down all religious houses regardless of whether they’re actually corrupt or not. She continues she’s heard he’s transferring all the wealth to the treasury, and he explains he’s trying to make Henry the wealthiest prince in Europe. Anne believes some of the wealth should go to charities and educational organisations. Accusing him of manipulating Henry and showing classism herself in the process, she threatens to crop his neck if he isn’t careful.</p>
<p>I agree with her on how the wealth should be redistributed, but this would work a lot better if Anne had shown a genuine interest in Reformism in earlier episodes. This scene and its purpose to manufacture conflict between the Boleyns and Cromwell just doesn’t work due Anne’s characterisation up until recently.</p>
<p>Going back to Catherine, she dictates her last wishes as a priest, Elizabeth, and the other servants pray. Then, she has a dictates a letter to Henry, and he’s shown reading as her voice-over continues. She finishes her dictation, and Elizabeth hands the letter to her so that she can sign her name. She tries to do it herself, but she can’t. Elizabeth guides her hand. With the letter done, commending her spirit to God, she dies.</p>
<p>Maria Doyle Kennedy did a fantastic job during this episode.</p>
<p>The scene transitions from Elizabeth and the servants sobbing to Henry. Clutching the letter, he tries to hold back tears.</p>
<p>There’s a montage.</p>
<p>One of Anne’s ladies comes to tell her the news. Anne is happy.</p>
<p>Wyatt goes to find Elizabeth, but what he finds is her dead, hanging body.</p>
<p>Mary receives some of Catherine’s things. The papal letter is among them.</p>
<p>At an outdoor party, Charles Brandon introduces CB to John.</p>
<p>George leaves his wife, hereafter dubbed Lady R, to go to talk to Mark. Mark asks if he’s told Lady R about them. He insists George is like a god at court.</p>
<p>Unwilling to explain how, due to his raping her, George can’t afford to tell her anything that could get him sentenced to death, he angrily declares the Greek Gods had problems with their wives.</p>
<p>The royal couple appears. Anne is dressed in yellow, and Henry wears black. Running into John, he orders him to send Jane to be one of Anne’s ladies. Next, he plays with Elizabeth and some boys with wooden swords.</p>
<p>Boleyn is annoyed with Anne for arguing with Cromwell. Anne angrily declares she had a part in Henry falling in love with her and part of him doing so was his respect for her opinions. Then, telling him she’s pregnant, she happily spins around.</p>
<p>Fin.</p>
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